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BMW invests $900 million in South Carolina, creates 300 jobs

BMW will take on 300 new jobs at its Spartanburg, S.C., plant. (Photo Credit: CC BY-ND/Moyan Brenn/Flickr)

Thursday, BMW officials announced that the company will be investing an additional $900 million in the production plant in Spartanburg, S.C., where the BMW X4 will be produced. The extra investment will create an additional 300 jobs at the plant, which has produced 2 million vehicles since it opened in 1994.

Gov. Nikki Haley applauds BMW

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called BMW‘s announcement “a blueprint for economic success” in her state and a welcome continuance of the automaker’s $6 billion-plus investment in South Carolina since the plant opened.

“BMW has once again provided tremendous evidence that South Carolina is a blueprint for significant economic development success,” said Haley. “The partnership between this company and our state is an enduring example of how to attract, retain and grow business to stimulate perpetual job creation.”

It is believed that expansion of the Spartanburg BMW plant will make it the second-largest BMW plant in the world, behind the production facility at Dingolfing in Southern Germany. In August, the Spartanburg plant had already shifted to a six-day work week with an eye toward increased production. With the upgrades, BMW officials project that the plant will be able to produce 350,000 cars annually with an employee base of 7,500 people.

Crossover the globe

BMW’s Spartanburg facility is know as the production ground for the automaker’s line of crossover vehicles, including the X5 SUV. Production of the BMW X4, a sport activity sedan, will further this work. The X4 is based upon the X3 SUV style, and it is also similar to the BMW X6 in concept.

“With this investment, we will be able to produce 350,000 units here in the mid-term,” said BMW production chief Frank-Peter Arndt. “This is one reaction to the rising global demand for our BMW X Models.”

In 2011, BMW Spartanburg produced 276,065 vehicles for more than 130 global markets, reports USA Today. That represents a 73 increase over production in 2010. Of the vehicles made in South Carolina, 70 percent were exported, making BMW the largest automotive exporter to non-NAFTA nations in the U.S.